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Daily Readings for Tuesday, July 24, 2018

1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
until he has mercy upon us.

3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

Morning Psalm 146

1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help. 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God, 6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

First Reading Joshua 8:1-22

1Then the LORD said to
Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the
fighting men with you, and go up now to Ai. See, I have
handed over to you the king of Ai with his people, his
city, and his land. 2You shall do to Ai and its king as
you did to Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its
livestock you may take as booty for yourselves. Set an
ambush against the city, behind it."

3So Joshua and all the
fighting men set out to go up against Ai. Joshua chose
thirty thousand warriors and sent them out by night
4with the command,
"You shall lie in ambush against the city, behind
it; do not go very far from the city, but all of you stay
alert. 5I and all the
people who are with me will approach the city. When they
come out against us, as before, we shall flee from them.
6They will come out
after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for
they will say, 'They are fleeing from us, as
before.' While we flee from them, 7you shall rise up from the ambush
and seize the city; for the LORD your God will give it
into your hand. 8And
when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on
fire, doing as the LORD has ordered; see, I have
commanded you." 9So Joshua sent them out; and they
went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and
Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent that night in the
camp.

10In the morning Joshua
rose early and mustered the people, and went up, with the
elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11All the fighting men who were
with him went up, and drew near before the city, and
camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between
them and Ai. 12Taking
about five thousand men, he set them in ambush between
Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13So they stationed the forces, the
main encampment that was north of the city and its rear
guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in
the valley. 14When the
king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the
inhabitants of the city, hurried out early in the morning
to the meeting place facing the Arabah to meet Israel in
battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush
against him behind the city. 15And Joshua and all Israel made a
pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the
direction of the wilderness. 16So all the people who were in the
city were called together to pursue them, and as they
pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.
17There was not a man
left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel;
they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

18Then the LORD said to
Joshua, "Stretch out the sword that is in your hand
toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand." And
Joshua stretched out the sword that was in his hand
toward the city. 19As
soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush
rose quickly out of their place and rushed forward. They
entered the city, took it, and at once set the city on
fire. 20So when the men
of Ai looked back, the smoke of the city was rising to
the sky. They had no power to flee this way or that, for
the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against
the pursuers. 21When
Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the
city and that the smoke of the city was rising, then they
turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22And the others came out from the
city against them; so they were surrounded by Israelites,
some on one side, and some on the other; and Israel
struck them down until no one was left who survived or
escaped.

Second Reading Romans 14:1-12

1Welcome those who are
weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over
opinions. 2Some believe
in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.
3Those who eat must not
despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not
pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed
them. 4Who are you to
pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their
own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be
upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5Some judge one day to
be better than another, while others judge all days to be
alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.
6Those who observe the
day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat,
eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God;
while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and
give thanks to God.

7We do not live to
ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8If we live, we live to the Lord,
and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we
live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
9For to this end Christ
died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both
the dead and the living.

10Why do you pass
judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you
despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand
before the judgment seat of God. 11For it is written, "As I
live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every tongue shall give praise to God." 12So then, each of us will be
accountable to God.

Gospel Reading Matthew 26:47-56

47While he was still
speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was
a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief
priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had given them a
sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man;
arrest him." 49At
once he came up to Jesus and said, "Greetings,
Rabbi!" and kissed him. 50Jesus said to him, "Friend,
do what you are here to do." Then they came and laid
hands on Jesus and arrested him. 51Suddenly, one of those with Jesus
put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave
of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52Then Jesus said to him, "Put
your sword back into its place; for all who take the
sword will perish by the sword. 53Do you think that I cannot appeal
to my Father, and he will at once send me more than
twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the scriptures
be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?"
55At that hour Jesus
said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords
and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day
after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not
arrest me. 56But all
this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the
prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples
deserted him and fled.

Evening Psalm 30

1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O LORD,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed. 8 To you, O LORD, I cried,
and to the LORD I made supplication: 9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
O LORD, be my helper!”

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy, 12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Evening Psalm 86

1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all day long. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. 6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my cry of supplication. 7 In the day of my trouble I call on you,
for you will answer me.

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come
and bow down before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, the insolent rise up against me;
a band of ruffians seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them. 15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant;
save the child of your serving girl.

17 Show me a sign of your favor,
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.